Mike Scott is pop’s only literate lyricist who would dare take on the stately iconography of William Butler Yeats. Forget about the living proof provided by his band the Waterboys as they tackle the Irishman’s prickly poems through a series of 14 daringly diverse arrangements on the new An Appointment With Mr. Yeats (Proper American). You’d know that if you’ve listened to Scott’s richly robust catalog of Waterboys albums made since 1983, or even read his recently released book, Adventures Of A Waterboy. Though imbued with an intellectual curiosity beyond that of the most wizened scholar, Scott has long found himself inspired by Yeats’ vivid world-weary lyrical textures and smartly grammatical manner. On the other hand, he’s a big Twitter fan. Go figure. Scott will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new Q&A with him.
I fly a lot, man: 72 flights in 2012. And some of them are long. And I don’t sleep easily on a plane. So I while away the time reading, mostly, or, when I run out of reading material I amuse myself by drawing graffiti on magazines. Speech bubbles, monocles, blacked-out teeth, you know the kind of thing. It’s wonderful how much simple pleasure this pursuit can provide, especially if there’s a fellow band member in the next seat to show my handiwork to. And with the advent of the iPhone, I can photograph it for posterity before I slide the magazine back into the pouch for the surprise entertainment (?) of the passenger on the next flight.
More of my favourites from 2012 after the jump.
